McCain's foreign policy adviser lobbied Congress on behalf of Texas businessman

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A top foreign policy adviser to John McCain has lobbied the National Security Council, Congress and the State Department on behalf of a Texas businessman and longtime Republican fundraiser caught up in a controversy over whether he sought to sell access to the White House. According to records on file with Congress, McCain's foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann lobbied the Senate and House on behalf of Stephen Payne's firm, Worldwide Strategic Partners Inc., in 2002. Scheunemann also lobbied the National Security Council and the State Department regarding energy issues in the Caspian region in 2005 and 2006 on behalf of another Payne firm, Caspian Alliance Inc., according to the records. The fees to Scheunemann's firm amounted to $50,000. On Monday, the McCain campaign said that from 2002 to 2006, Scheunemann periodically engaged in consulting relationships with the two companies and that Scheunemann was never on the payroll of either firm, but that he was an occasional outside expert consultant.